BBC forced to issue correction following basic errors on devolution

The article previously ran under the headline “UK's safe level for tap water too high – scientists”. However, the story currently runs on its site as “Concern over toxic chemicals in tap water”.

The article also previously referenced the “UK Drinking Water Inspectorate” – a body which does not exist. In fact, the body in question is the “Drinking Water Inspectorate for England and Wales”.

Following a complaint made, the BBC were forced to rectify these errors.

A user on Reddit claimed to have received a reply in response to their complaint which confirmed that the BBC “suggested that PFAS levels were too high in UK drinking water, when we should have made clear that the study of water samples related just to England”.

The BBC apologised, adding that in a busy newsroom errors “do sometimes creep into text” and that usually they are picked up by editors but added “in this instance, that did not happen".

They said that, in addition to replacing the headline, they rewrote the top four lines of the story, added an inline link to the DWI, added a reference to the situation in Scotland and added a correction note at the bottom of the article.

A representative from the BBC told The National: “We have nothing further to add to the correction that was published.”

The Reddit user who made the complaint about the article said: "I complained because the article made frequent reference to UK water quality targets and the UK Drinking Water Inspectorate and referred to samples taken in the UK – all of which it turned out were only applicable to England or England & Wales.

"I wrote in my complaint 'I feel let down by the journalists not giving us this basic information about the geographical limits of their story – I'd like to assume that when they say 'UK' they mean 'UK' and not 'England and Wales' but there's no way to tell from what's presented.' – Scotland and NI could be doing the same/better/worse but there's no way to tell and the judicious use of 'UK' makes it very confusing.

"I further complained that devolution was frequently misrepresented like this, and urged the BBC to send their editors on some sort of 30-minute 'what is devolution?' course, which isn't addressed in the response I received.

"I'm fairly happy with the response – I don't really buy the 'In a busy newsroom I am afraid errors do sometimes creep into text' line because the quality of reporting with respect to devolution is both diabolical and utterly endemic – this isn't a one-off error that crept it, it's a systemic disregard for devolution.

"Also, it's not exactly a story that needed to be published urgently, waiting a day for it to be properly quality checked wouldn't have lost them a scoop. However, I do feel like they took the complaint seriously and did update the article to make it clear – which is great!

"If you see poor quality journalism that equates UK with England or England and Wales, make a complaint here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint/#/Complaint if enough of us regularly point out these issues they will learn to stop making them, hopefully!"

The Reddit user also posted what they said was the full response from the BBC.

It read: "I am one of the journalists who deal with editorial complaints made to the BBC news website.

"I am sorry you had occasion to contact us and understand you were concerned that in our article published on March 19 we mistakenly referred to the UK Drinking Water Inspectorate which, as you quite rightly pointed out, does not exist. We suggested that PFAS levels were too high in UK drinking water, when we should have made clear that the study of water samples related just to England and cited the Drinking Water Inspectorate for England and Wales as the relevant body.

"I can only apologise for the oversight. In a busy newsroom I am afraid errors do sometimes creep into text for the website. They are usually picked up by editors but in this instance, that did not happen.

"I am very grateful to you for having drawn our attention to the error. We have rewritten the top four lines of the story and replaced the headline. We have added an inline link to the DWI and added a reference to the situation in Scotland. We have also added a correction note at the bottom of the article. Collectively I do hope these steps address your concerns.

"Overall I am satisfied that the piece now adheres to our Editorial Guidelines on accuracy.

"Rest assured that we take all comments from readers, listeners and viewers very seriously as they help us to maintain our high editorial standards. These comments are also made available on a daily basis to senior editors who shape our news coverage and are a valuable way of keeping them abreast of readers’ and licence fee payers’ concerns.

"Thank you again for taking the trouble to contact us."